Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to oral medicaments in lump form which are suckable or chewable, and more particularly to a lumped medicament supported on a handle in a lollipop format to facilitate chewing or sucking thereof without the risk of inadvertent aspiration of large pieces of the medicament or of the entire body thereof.
By definition, a pill is medicine in a rounded mass which is small enough to be swallowed whole. The concern of the present invention is with oral medicaments in lump form which are larger than pills and are not intended to be swallowed whole but to be chewed or sucked to thereby more slowly administer a therapeutic agent. In this class of lumped medicaments, we find cough drops, throat lozenges, nasal sinus decongestants, various drugs for asthmatic conditions and other useful preparations.
Because lumped medicaments are retained in the mouth and are sucked or chewed therein, certain risks are entailed by this action, particularly with children and older patients. Thus, when a child is given a cough drop, he will suck it for a time; and when its size is reduced, he may proceed to break it up with his teeth and then swallow the jagged pieces. Should some of these pieces be fairly sizeable, they may lodge in the throat and choke the child. In other instances, a child may accidentally aspirate a large drop, and this may lead to serious medical consequences.
Similar problems are encountered with older patients or patients enfeebled as a result of serious illness, for these patients may lack the capacity to eject solids partially lodged in the air passage. Blockage of this passage may result in cardio-pulmonary collapse.
These problems can in some measure be obviated by supplying the lump medicament in a lollipop format; that is, by molding the body of the medicament on the end of a stick. There are obvious practical as well as psychological advantages in an oral medicament lollipop, for the patient can then suck or chew a prescribed medicine as if it were a piece of hard candy. There is little danger that the lump will be swallowed whole, as long as it is held on the stick. Moreover, since sucking a candy lollipop is normally a pleasurable activity, even if the medicament has a somewhat disagreeable flavor, this to some extent is mitigated by its psychological association with candy.
There are, however, a number of possible hazards which accompany the use of conventional lollipops, regardless of whether the lump on the stick is a hard candy or a medicament. Should the user accidentally fall on his face while holding the stick in his hand, this may push the stick into the throat; and should the lump break off from the stick, the exposed stick could then pierce the esophagus.
The prior art in the candy lollipop field recognizes these dangers and suggests as a solution thereto various forms of safety sticks. Thus the Cahoon U.S. Pat. No. 2,246,778 discloses a stick with a tapered neck that in case of an accident will break off. The Davis U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,115 shows a lollipop stick that is corrugated and will therefore bend when stressed, while the Guyon U.S. Pat. No. 1,971,560 proposes a bendable rubber safety stick for a lollipop.
The prior art is also addressed to the problem of more securely anchoring the hard candy to the stick of a lollipop. Thus the Snell U.S. Pat. No. 1,847,415 shows a stick whose end is provided with an enlarged head which is embedded in the lump of candy, while Venable, U.S. Pat. No. 1,593,858, discloses a bifurcated head at the end of the stick to render the coupling to the lump more secure.